• CRY "HAVOC!": Stephen Wolfert, a U.S. Army infantry and medical officer who served in Afghanistan and walked away from a career in the military after seven years to become an actor, delivers a blistering, galvanic performance in this autobiographical one-man show that examines the challenges facing our soldiers — men and women; during service and especially after — through his own compelling story. His masterly storytelling unfolds not only in an expressive vocal narrative that seamlessly weaves selected Shakespearean text with his own, but also in terms of his movements, at once precise and graceful. The Army's loss clearly is theater's gain (Aug. 5). Through Aug. 13. Evenings — Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 7:30. Matinee — Saturday at 3. (1 hour 10 minutes; followed after 15-minute intermission by talkback)

OR,: Liz Duffy Adams has constructed a smart, sly sophisticated farce about 17th century British spy, poet and playwright Aphra Behn and her effort to give up the spy game and complete her first play — a commission from the Duke's Theatre — while romantic intrigue involving her sometime lover King Charles II; her former lover and colleague in the spy business, William Scot; and actress Nel Gwynne swirls around her on the night before her manuscript is due. An impressively talented cast of three plays, among them, roughly half a dozen characters with seamless skill and robust style (Aug. 6). In rotating repertory through Sept. 4. Selected evenings at 7:30 and afternoons at 2. (1 hour 35 minutes — no intermission)

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE: Over-thinking has been problematic at Shakespeare & Company but not so in this thoughtfully rendered production of one of Shakespeare's most problematic plays. From design to staging in an impressive new theater-in-the-rectangle configuration in the Tina Packer Playhouse to a shimmering performance by Tamara Hickey as Portia and a richly nuanced performance by Jonathan Epstein as Shylock, director Tina Packer's production is of a piece that comes as close as any to reconciling elements that often are at war with one another (July 16). Through Aug. 21. In rotating repertory. Selected evenings at 7:30; selected afternoons at 2. (3 hours 4 minutes — one intermission)

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE: Buoyed by Joshua Bergasse's whimsical choreography and particularly noteworthy performances by David Garrison as the very model modern Major-General Stanley, Scarlett Strallen as the daughter who falls in love with a young apprentice pirate, and Alex Gibson as a Keystone Kop-style Sergeant, director John Rando's production of Wilford Leach's liberating 1980 treatment of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta for the Public Theater in New York neatly bridges Victorian Savoyard tradition and contemporary American musical theater. In a Berkshire theater season that has had a lot on its mind, there haven't been many opportunities to just kick back in a theater for two hours and not think about anything weighty; just relax. This is one of them (July 23). Through Aug. 13. Evenings — Wednesday at 7; Thursday through Saturday at 8. Matinees — Wednesday and Friday at 2; Sunday at 5. (2 hours 10 minutes — one intermission)

THE STONE WITCH: A curmudgeonly, eccentric genius children's book writer meets up with a talented up-and-coming children's book writer who's been sent to the older man's cabin retreat in upstate New York to help him complete his long-awaited, and, in all, likelihood, last, book. As the elder writer wrestling with demons of his own making, Judd Hirsch fumbles around the stage in a new play that, for all playwright Shem Bitterman's efforts, feels incomplete. The designers have provided a richly textural visual atmosphere;like a children's book that is stronger on illustration than it is on text (July 30). Through Aug. 20. Evenings — Monday through Thursday at 7; Friday and Saturday at 8. Matinees — saturday at 2. (1 hour 31 minutes — no intermission)

UGLY LIES THE BONE: A badly scarred, severely injured veteran of the war in Afghanistan returns to her Florida home after her third tour of duty to pick up the pieces of her life and heal from wounds that are not only physical but which also reach deep into the marrow of her emotional being in Lindsey Ferrentino's drama. Christianna Nelson gives a steady, if somewhat cautious, performance as the deeply scarred veteran, Jess, in a production that also feels cautious and nowhere near as courageous as its central character (June 30). In rotating repertory through Aug. 28. Selected evenings at 8:30 and afternoons at 3. (1 hour 32 minutes — no intermission)

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